The present invention generally relates to delivering and injecting fluid into heart tissue. More specifically, the present invention relates to delivering and injecting fluid into heart tissue utilizing laterally directed injection ports.
Injection catheters may be used to inject therapeutic or diagnostic agents into a variety of organs, such as the heart. In the case of injecting a therapeutic agent into the heart, 27 or 28 gauge needles are generally used to inject solutions carrying genes, proteins, or drugs directly into the myocardium. A typical volume of an agent delivered to an injection site is about 100 microliters. A limitation to this method of delivering therapeutic agents to the heart is that the injected fluid tends to leak from the site of the injection after the needle is disengaged from the heart. In fact, fluid may continue to leak over several seconds. In the case of dynamic organs such as the heart, there may be more pronounced leakage with each muscle contraction.
Therapeutic and diagnostic agents may be delivered to a portion of the heart as part of a percutaneous myocardial revascularization (PMR) procedure. PMR is a procedure which is aimed at assuring that the heart is properly oxygenated. Assuring that the heart muscle is adequately supplied with oxygen is critical to sustaining the life of a patient. To receive an adequate supply of oxygen, the heart muscle must be well perfused with blood. In a healthy heart, blood perfusion is accomplished with a system of blood vessels and capillaries. However, it is common for the blood vessels to become occluded (blocked) or stenotic (narrowed). A stenosis may be formed by an atheroma which is typically a harder, calcified substance which forms on the walls of a blood vessel.
Historically, individual stenotic lesions have been treated with a number of medical procedures including coronary bypass surgery, angioplasty, and atherectomy. Coronary bypass surgery typically involves utilizing vascular tissue from another part of the patient""s body to construct a shunt around the obstructed vessel. Angioplasty techniques such as percutaneous transluminal angioplasty (PTA) and percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty (PTCA) are relatively non-invasive methods of treating a stenotic lesion. These angioplasty techniques typically involve the use of a guide wire and a balloon catheter. In these procedures, a balloon catheter is advanced over a guide wire such that the balloon is positioned proximate a restriction in a diseased vessel. The balloon is then inflated and the restriction in the vessel is opened. A third technique which may be used to treat a stenotic lesion is atherectomy. During an atherectomy procedure, the stenotic lesion is mechanically cut or abraded away from the blood vessel wall.
Coronary by-pass, angioplasty, and atherectomy procedures have all been found effective in treating individual stenotic lesions in relatively large blood vessels. However, the heart muscle is perfused with blood through a network of small vessels and capillaries. In some cases, a large number of stenotic lesions may occur in a large number of locations throughout this network of small blood vessels and capillaries. The torturous path and small diameter of these blood vessels limit access to the stenotic lesions. The sheer number and small size of these stenotic lesions make techniques such as cardiovascular by-pass surgery, angioplasty, and atherectomy impractical.
When techniques which treat individual lesion are not practical, percutaneous myocardial revascularization (PMR) may be used to improve the oxygenation of the myocardial tissue. A PMR procedure generally involves the creation of holes, craters or channels directly into the myocardium of the heart. In a typical PMR procedure, these holes are created using radio frequency energy delivered by a catheter having one or more electrodes near its distal end. After the wound has been created, therapeutic agents are sometimes ejected into the heart chamber from the distal end of a catheter.
Positive clinical results have been demonstrated in human patients receiving PMR treatments. These results are believed to be caused in part by blood flowing within the heart chamber through channels in myocardial tissue formed by PMR. Increased blood flow to the myocardium is also believed to be caused in part by the healing response to wound formation. Specifically, the formation of new blood vessels is believed to occur in response to the newly created wound. This response is sometimes referred to as angiogenesis. After the wound has been created, therapeutic agents which are intended to promote angiogenesis are sometimes injected into the heart chamber. A limitation of this procedure is that the therapeutic agent may be quickly carried away by the flow of blood through the heart.
In addition to promoting increased blood flow, it is also believed that PMR improves a patient""s condition through denervation. Denervation is the elimination of nerves. The creation of wounds during a PMR procedure results in the elimination of nerve endings which were previously sending pain signals to the brain as a result of hibernating tissue.
Currently available injection catheters are not particularly suitable for accurately delivering small volumes of therapeutic agents to heart tissue. Improved devices and methods are desired to address the problems associated with retention of the agent in the heart tissue as discussed above. This is particularly true for agents carrying genes, proteins, or other angiogenic drugs which may be very expensive, even in small doses.
The present invention provides an improved apparatus and method for delivering and injecting fluid into heart tissue. The present invention addresses the problems associated with retention of the fluid in the heart tissue by utilizing one or more laterally directed injection ports. The present invention may be used to deliver genes, proteins, or drugs directly into the myocardium for purposes of myocardial revascularization.
In an exemplary embodiment, the present invention provides a catheter having a shaft with an infusion lumen extending therethrough. The distal end of the shaft includes a penetrating member having one or more injection ports. The penetrating member penetrates the heart tissue in a first direction, and the injection port or ports direct fluid in a second direction different from the first direction. By injecting the fluid or fluids in a direction different than the penetration direction, fluid leakage from the injection site is reduced and a greater volume of tissue is treated for a single primary injection.
The injection ports may have a diameter of approximately 1 to 500 microns, depending on the desired injection parameters. The second direction may be at an angle of about 5 to about 90 degrees relative to the first direction, and the first direction is preferably orthogonal to the heart tissue at the injection site.
The catheter may include a sheath disposed about the shaft. The distal end of the sheath may include a suction head for stabilizing the distal end of the catheter upon the application of suction to the sheath.
The present invention also provides a method of delivering a fluid to heart tissue including the steps of: navigating a catheter substantially as described above in a patient""s body until the distal end of the catheter is positioned adjacent the injection site; actuating the penetrating member such that the penetrating member penetrates the heart tissue in a first direction; and injecting the fluid into the heart tissue via the injection ports at a second direction different than the first direction. This method reduces fluid leakage from the injection site and treats a greater volume of tissue for a single primary injection.